Grendel LMG

[LRRPF52]

So where are we at now?

Since WWII, the US effort to keep the battle rifle cartridge alive failed quickly with the M14, but left the poorer recovering Western European nations with 7.62 NATO self-loaders. What units found immediately was that you could not effectively fire a 7.62 NATO rifle on automatic, and within the US, British, West German, Belgian, and other NATO allies, rifle marksmanship training focused entirely on semi automatic fire with rifles. A BAR-type variant of the M14, the M14A1, would serve as the Squad Automatic Rifle by means of a muzzle brake, heavier barrel, inline stock design, and bipod.



In the Soviet system, they focused on semi automatic fire, as well as controlled bursts with the Avtomat, with a mix of belt-fed RPDs firing the same 7.62 Avtomat cartridge (7.62x39 M43). They would later adopt the SVD Sniper System firing the 7.62x54R (7.62 Vintovka) as an integral supporting arm of the Infantry Platoon.



With the early failure of the M14/M14A1/M60 single cartridge system, the US needed a stop-gap before we would introduce the SPIW in 1968, so the AR15 was allowed to fill that temporary void after the USAF insisted on standardizing it as their service rifle for SPs and Security Forces to replace the M1/M2 Carbine. The M14A1 proved to be incapable of sustained fire, and the M14 service rifles were neutered with a cap in place of the selector, since they were uncontrollable by most soldiers on automatic in the rare event that someone actually placed it on auto.

The AR15 was more controllable on Automatic, but training for infantry focused on use in the SEMI mode only. Operational exceptions in Vietnam included nighttime full auto H&I fire around a defensive perimeter to deter sappers from low-crawling into their defense, designated Squad Members as the Automatic Rifleman, as well as undisciplined automatic fire upon contact mostly from untrained draftees. Widespread adoption of Night Vision made the nighttime H&I fire practice unnecessary. The use of Automatic fire was trained out of the "panic-mode" reaction many soldiers used by the 1980s, and another weapon system was added to the Infantry Squad to fill the Automatic fire needs.



During the Vietnam era, the US Army experimented with several different book answer MTO&Es for introduction of the M60 into the Squad to fill the Automatic Rifleman role. A need for a light machine-gun was again identified, and answered with some belt-fed experimental variations of the M16 (not adopted), then with the SAW trials of the 1970s, in which one of the worst entrants won the contract, the Belgian FN Minimi-a combination of a scaled-down MAG58 feed tray mechanism and the bolt carrier group and piston of the AK housed inside a sheet steel receiver. The earlier 6mm SAW cartridge would have provided a much better LMG answer for squad support, with excellent barrier defeat and long range reach.



The Stoner LMG 63A Weapon System was much lighter, constant-recoil operated weapon but no longer in production.

As to Colt LMGs based on the M16, there were basically one type for each decade through the 1980s. The 1960s-era Colt LMG was part of the CAR-15 Family of Weapons concept, the Colt RO606. It was never adopted, whereas the Commando variant evolution of one of the CAR-15 family weapons were adopted in very large numbers as the XM177E1 and XM177E2, as well as the USAF GAU-5A/A carbines.

In the 1970s, Colt had a SAWS trial entrant in the XM106 BRL, which was mag-fed, while the Rodman/Ford Aerospace, FN, and HK entrants were all belt-fed. The original FN Minim M249E1 was lighter than what we ended up with, but still about as heavy as the Soviet PKM Platoon support machine-gun chambered in 7.62x54R.